24 pages • 48 minutes read
Nathaniel HawthorneThe Ambitious Guest
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1835A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.
Essay Topics
Assessing the definition of hubris, would you consider the guest to be a tragic hero?
Though not a typical Dark Romantic short story by Hawthorne, “The Ambitious Guest” still has traits of Dark Romanticism. What do you think these traits are? How does it affect your reading of the story?
The narrator repeatedly refers to the guest as having “dignity” and being “proud” (302, 304). The guest is further described as both proud and kind or gentle. To what effect does the narrator describe the guest in this detail?
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